The first-ever loan against cryptocurrency by a commercial bank…Yes, you read that right!
A Russian commercial bank, Expobank, issued a loan to a local entrepreneur against WAVES token. CEO and founder of WAVES, Alexander Ivanov, confirmed the same in a tweet. He added that Waves is not partnering with any other bank in developing secure bank loans with its open protocol and did not approach any bank to promote this type of protocol.
Although Russian law still does not recognize this new type of loan, many legal experts are confident of it getting accepted in the future. There is a lot of legal uncertainty on the legitimization of crypto transfers and assets. But at the same time, many believe that it can be legalized.
As per Yuri Brisov, the lawyer behind this loan, there should be no issues with the use of Waves tokens since there is no prohibition on the circulation of non-payment token in the country. Another counsel involved in this, Alexander Zhuravlev, managing partner of the Efficient Business Resources law firm, emphasized that cryptocurrencies can not only be used for trading but also for banking loans or security obligations.
Waves has been closely following blockchain-related developments in Russia. Back in April 2020, the country’s Ministry of Communications added Waves Enterprise to its unified register of Russian software for computers and databases as Waves software belonged to a Russian company. Previously, a local national energy grid operator tested a blockchain solution from Waves for payments in the retail electricity sector.
